BarkingProse

It’s hard to remember when Sherman wasn’t part of our pack. When he first arrived Jack wasn’t too sure about him, but he’s settled in and we all get along fine now.

Sherm may weigh twice as much as me, but he’s a gentle giant. He plays with his stuffies and doesn’t rip their bellies out like I do. Mom even let him have my favorite squirrel one day when he was feeling sad.

Sherm has really good manners. He doesn’t swipe food and he doesn’t jump on people. Good thing, since he’s as big as a person.

Sherm and I play hide and seek. Naturally I’m the one who hides. We don’t have anything big enough to hide Sherm. First we chase each other around the yard. I race around the barn and when he’s not looking I dive into a bush. I peek out to see if he knows where I am. He looks all around for me. When he looks the other way, I dash right past him and the chase is on again.

Sherm gets all worked up when Tess and I play the mouth game. He wants to play but he doesn’t know how. He gets extra pets since he can’t play our game and usually he gets invited up on the couch. Tess doesn’t want him on the couch because he takes up too much space. But Tess doesn’t always get her way.

Sherm brought some really fine treats with him. That’s always a good thing to bring special treats to share with the house dogs. That way we get off to a good start. I asked Sherm if he had anything to bark about. He said he’s not much for barking unless he hears a siren. Then he howls like a wolf. Too funny! Gotta run.

Mom wouldn’t tell me where we were going. She said it was a surprise. I didn’t care where we went, I just wanted to be with my mom. Just me and her. Lately she’s had to spend a lot of time with the other dogs. She says I have more confidence and I’m not so needy. When somebody has to stay behind to babysit the new dog, it’s usually me.

We took off early. It was already sunny. After a few hours we came to a fairgrounds. There were horses and other dogs and then I saw him – my little brother Zag! We started yipping and jumping and carrying on. The people around us were laughing.

Before I knew what was happening we were in the car together. There was a lake and we got to play ball and swim for hours. It was so much fun.

People say Zag and me are like twins. I don’t know. He has a longer nose and is scared of laundry. I’m more stocky and am scared of sudden noises. We’re both pretty easy going.

Zag got on the wrong side of Tess last time he stayed with us. We got to get that worked out next time he comes to visit.

I gotta show you one last picture. Zag has this tiny little brother named Rhett. Here he is at the lake with us. He’s small but he’s brave. He even went swimming when his mom put him in the water. Maybe we can find him a little ball he can fetch.

When we were so tired we could hardly swim anymore, Zag and Rhett went back to the fairgrounds and I rode home with Mom. We stopped and got me a burger – no onions. I slept until the car pulled into the driveway. The other dogs sniffed me all over. They knew I’d had a special day. In fact, it was magic. I’ll remember this day for a long time. See ya.

Yesterday we were looking at the Old Dog Haven site. Jack’s picture is in the Final Refuge section. There’s a write-up about him. Jack just got posted a few weeks ago and already there are SIX different people sponsoring him. I showed it to Jack. He couldn’t believe anyone would want to help pay for his care. He still thinks he’s funny looking and doesn’t understand why people like him.

Check out the Old Dog Haven website. You can link to it under “Sites We’ve Marked” on the left side of our home page. Click on Final Refuge. You have to go all the way to the bottom to find Jack. The pictures load slow but it’s worth the wait.

Jack has a heart of gold. He’s honest and solid and predictable. I didn’t really like him when he first joined our pack, but the more I’m around him the more I admire him. He had a tough life before he came to Asherpark but he never complains. He waits his turn for meals and treats. He sits real still for his eye drops even though he doesn’t like them.

All he wants is to know where our mom is. Once he fell asleep and when he woke up he got all panicky ’cause he couldn’t find mom. He was racing all over the house and slipping on the bare floors. I started my emergency bark to let mom know there was a problem. She came running and saw what was going on. Jack couldn’t hear her so she had to be careful not to spook him.

She touched his tail so he would turn around. As soon as he saw her he ran over and put his face against her shoulder. I thought he was going to cry. Mom held him for a while until he calmed down. Tess licked him to make him feel better. I tossed him a ball. Jack’s a good man. I’m glad he’s part of our pack.

I think Jack could be a poster dog for Old Dog Haven. When people get to know him and realize he might have been put down if it weren’t for Old Dog Haven, they’d want to support other old dogs. I’m gonna see if I can’t get some more publicity for Jack. If you got any ideas about how to do that, let me know, okay? Hey thanks a lot. Gotta run.